


Caroling and Love Declarations (AKA The Doctor's Drunk History of Christmas)

by LizAnn_5869



Series: Christmas Sweets [5]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: AU- not canon compliant, Carol Singing, Christmas, Drunkeness, Established Relationship, F/M, Humor, Love Declarations, More fluff than angst, New Years, doomsday was avoided
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-14
Updated: 2016-12-14
Packaged: 2018-09-08 14:42:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8849020
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LizAnn_5869/pseuds/LizAnn_5869
Summary: The Doctor and Rose rarely have a peaceful Christmas.  This time some ginger in the punch makes for a night to remember (for Rose, who has to fill in the details for the Doctor the next day.)





	

**Author's Note:**

> For TPP's "drunken caroling" prompt. Although the drunken caroling doesn't make up a major part of the plot, it's there and I hope it's funny! This story started out one way, but then the Doctor and Rose took it in a different direction than I had expected.
> 
> One more note: this is set in an alternate universe in which the Doctor did not lose Rose at Canary Wharf. It's mentioned, but obviously the outcome was different.

Rose heard the Doctor moan next to her, and not in the fun way. She rolled over to her side in their bed, waiting expectantly to experience a Time Lord with a hangover.

He moaned again and finally his eyes popped open. He covered his eyes with his hands as the TARDIS brightened the lights in the room. Rose had the idea that the time ship was quite amused.

“Rose?”

“M’right here.”

“My tongue feels like I licked the back of a Sontaran’s head.”

Rose raised an eyebrow and waited for him to go on.

“And my head feels like the entire percussion section of the Flartzoparian orchestra is playing Hvartz the Great’s sixth symphony.”

Rose smirked. “I'm sure that's impressive.”

The Doctor rubbed bleary eyes and looked at Rose. “There was ginger in that punch.”

“Mum said there was.”

“Was she trying to get me drunk?”

Rose snorted. “I don't think she knows that particular quirk of your impressive alien physiology.”

“She does now, I suspect.” He winced. “I could go into my memories to see what happened. But my head is pounding and I really don't want to see. I get the impression you can't wait to tell me.”

Rose beamed. The Doctor groaned. “Well, you stopped drinking Mum’s wine early on….”

“It was disgusting! Pure swill!”

“Mum’s aware of your opinion, but we're getting ahead of ourselves….” The Doctor’s eyebrow shot up, and then he winced from the pain of it. “You switched to punch, drinkin’ full plastic cups of it, after that you told her the wine was swill.”

“Oh...blimey.”

“Quite right. The first sign something was up was when you won Trivial Pursuit-”

The Doctor interjected, “How's that unusual?”

Rose rolled her eyes. “The part when you jumped up and down the couch and declared yourself the smartest person in the room….that was a bit unusual. You usually communicate that a little less….explicitly.” His eyes widened.

“Well….not as bad as I thought it would be.”

“There's more.”

“Of course.” He sighed, resigned.

“Then you decided it would be a fine idea to go Christmas caroling. Loudly. Nora and Charles in 43 would prefer you to not pound on the door and wake their colicky baby to sing all the verses of the “Twelve Days of Christmas.”

“Blimey.”

“Indeed. But still, most people were enjoying it until you decided to translate all the Christmas carols into Yoda-speak.”

“What?!”

Rose sang, “Brightly shining, oh holy night the stars were.”

“That makes absolutely no sense.”

She continued, attempting a guttural Yoda-like voice, “In the meadow build a snowman we can….”

The Doctor chuckled at that. “You have to give me points for creativity….”

“Keisha and Shareen left then, you were too creative for them. Mickey and Martha stayed though, which turned out to be quite helpful when you passed out and I had to get you back to the TARDIS. Flashback to last year, you unconscious on Christmas.”

“So I passed out caroling like Yoda?” He sighed. Rose turned rather red at this question. “What? What did I do?”

“You didn't pass out then. I dragged you back to Mum’s before you were arrested as a public nuisance. At that point you dragged me under the mistletoe and snogged me. I have to admit, it was good one despite you being pissed. Mum didn't like it, though. She told you to stop shagging me in her living room.”

“I didn't….”

“You know how Mum exaggerates when she's had too much of her awful wine. She then said something about you making an honest woman of me.” 

The Doctor’s eyes widened. He had a vague memory of what he said next.

Rose looked away from him, face red. “You announced that of course you would, it wasn't just about the sex and I was the love of your lives. And then you passed out.”

An awkward silence fell. The Doctor was clearly gobsmacked. Rose imagined she could see the cogs in his head turning, ready to divert and backpedal and anything else he could to back off from that admission. 

Rose spoke first. “Of course, you can't be held responsible for anything you said while pissed….”

The Doctor gaped, then started babbling. “No, no, no...that's not...I didn't mean...and I regret that I said…”

Rose raised her hand and said, “It’s okay, it's fine.” She was still beet red, with tears stinging her eyes. She refused to let them fall.

“No!” the Doctor shouted surprising Rose, and hurting his own head in the process. He sat up despite the pain. “No, what I'm trying to say is...alcohol...or ginger in my case, loosens the tongue, makes you say things that…”

“You don't mean,” she supplied.

“No! Sometimes you say what you haven't the courage to speak otherwise!And that's what happened. I just regret telling your mother while drunk on ginger, and not you directly. Because it's not how envisioned doing it. In my imagination I was sober and you were also and I told you and you were thrilled and you made me the happiest alien on earth. In private! That's how it was supposed to go!”

When he finished his tirade he fell back onto the pillow and covered his face with his hands. 

Rose was fairly certain that somewhere in all that he might have admitted that everything he told her mother was in fact, true. 

Her thoughts were interrupted by another low moan from the Doctor. “Doctor?” she murmured.

“What, Rose?” he sighed, as he considered the merits of a restorative coma to flush out the rest of the ginger...and to not speak to people for a day or two.

“Well, we have privacy now,” Rose reminded him. “Unless, you'd rather not….”

The Doctor uncovered his eyes and looked up at Rose, smiling down at him.  
Even though his head still pounded and he felt like rubbish, he slowly returned her smile. “I'd rather like to say it properly, yeah?” Rose lay down beside him. They rolled onto their sides, facing each other, their hands clasped under the pillow. She nodded, prompting him to continue.  
“I love you, Rose Tyler. I have since the day I met you. I've been a right coward since then. I waited until I almost lost you at Canary Wharf to show you how I felt and still I didn't give you the words. Well, now I am.”

Rose cupped his cheek gently with her free hand, smiling softly. “I love you. So, so much.” She sighed with relief, the words finally spoken between them.

The Doctor beamed, happier than he'd ever remembered being, even with a pounding headache. “When I feel better….in oh, about two hours, six minutes and forty-seven point two seconds I intend to celebrate with you,” he promised.

“I could use a kip anyway,” she murmured, kissing him softly, making his hearts ache with the tenderness of it.

Two hours, six minutes and forty-seven point two seconds later they did celebrate, very satisfactorily.

They attended a party at Jackie’s flat on New Year’s Eve, and the Doctor carefully avoided the punch. They disappeared shortly before midnight, as the Doctor took her hand and they ran to the TARDIS.

He took her into space, and at midnight while viewing the Rose Nebula, he declared his intent to make an honest woman of her. With a sparkling ring on her finger, Rose bonded with the Doctor in the Gallifreyan way. Returning home New Year’s Day, they announced it to her mother, who insisted on toasting with her wine. 

Despite the wine and the thought of Jackie as the Oncoming Wedding Planner, the Doctor predicted that it was the beginning of a really great year, (with many more to come.)

**Author's Note:**

> I had assistance with the Yoda caroling by using the Yoda-speak translator, which can be found online. Once I had the idea that he'd Yodafy some carols, I had a blast entering different lyrics into it. If you've never tried it, you should. It's particularly fun for entertaining kids at a restaurant when you're waiting for your food!


End file.
